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by escapismandsharpobjects



Category: White Collar
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Water, Whump, Whumptober 2020, but oh well, not super whumpy really, this is kinda short and not super good but oh well. its soft i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escapismandsharpobjects/pseuds/escapismandsharpobjects
Summary: whumptober day 31 - prompt: water (alt no.12).The water is cold. So very, very cold. It bites at his skin and grabs at his clothes and makes his muscles nearly seize up with how much they’re shaking. Still, he keeps going, swimming deeper and deeper, his whole body fighting against him.
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke & Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Burke & Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Comments: 14
Kudos: 70
Collections: Whumptober 2020





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**Author's Note:**

> hi hi hi!!! welcome to my last fic for this year's whumptober!!!! unfortunately it's actually not that good but i am just very excited so this is it. i hope maybe you like it?

The water is cold. So very, very cold. It bites at his skin and grabs at his clothes and makes his muscles nearly seize up with how much they’re shaking. Still, he keeps going, swimming deeper and deeper, his whole body fighting against him. 

Finally, he catches sight of it - the silver wristwatch which their suspect had chucked into the water the second he’d seen Neal and Peter approaching. Clearly, there had been something important on it, because the man had tried desperately to stop Neal from going after it. He hadn’t listened, of course. He’d jumped right over the railing and into the icy water without a second thought. The case was an important one, and they’d been able to turn up virtually no evidence so far. They  _ needed  _ this watch, so he was going to get it.

Neal’s hand closes around the watch at last, and he pushes himself off the ground and up towards the surface of the water, his thoughts of finding the watch replaced by the constant repetition of  _ cold, cold, cold… _

His head breaks the surface of the water, and he sucks in a deep breath of fresh air, which stings his throat and makes his eyes water. He coughs, then looks around for Peter, spying him on the riverbank. Neal tries to focus his hearing in Peter’s direction, sensing something is being said, but he can’t hear anything over the chattering of his teeth. 

Slowly, he swims to shore, wishing he could go faster but shivering too hard to do so. Eventually, he staggers out of the cold water and into the just-as-cold air, dropping to his knees and letting the watch fall from his hand. Everything is a constant, suffocating cold, and it  _ hurts  _ in a way he’s never really felt before.

Immediately, though, Peter is there, removing his suit jacket and draping it around Neal’s shoulders, providing the merest bit of warmth. “Why did you do that?” he asks, pulling Neal to his feet and keeping an arm around his shoulders to help him stand. 

“We don’t even know if there’s anything valuable in this watch” he continues, picking up said watch and stuffing it into his pocket.

Neal tries to respond, but he’s far too cold to form a coherent sentence. “Could be…” he gets out, his voice shaking along with the rest of his body.

Peter sighs. Neal leans heavily into his shoulder. “Cold,” he says, as Peter starts walking, pulling Neal along as best as he can.

“I know,” Peter says. “You jumped into a river in the middle of February. What did you expect?”

Neal shrugs, somewhat chagrined. “Know it was s-stupid,” he says, stumbling over the words. He’s never been this cold in his entire life. “Sorry.”

Peter rubs a warm hand down Neal’s back as they continue their slow walk. “I’m not mad, Neal,” he says gently. “But you put yourself in real danger for something that might turn out to be nothing.”

Neal doesn’t respond, partly because he’s still freezing and speaking is not the most pleasant activity at the moment, and partly because he senses a _ but. _

“But I think it was the right idea. I’ll be shocked if we don’t find something of value on this watch. Good work. Maybe don’t do it again.”

Neal can’t help grinning at this, a shaky smile stretching over his face, providing a tiny bit of warmth. “Won’t,” he manages to agree, though he’s pretty sure both he and Peter know he will. 

After several more minutes of walking, during which Neal has grown increasingly colder and quieter, they arrive at the Taurus. Neal fumbles with his door handle for a bit, his trembling hand refusing to hold on to the cold metal. 

Eventually, though, he’s in the car and the heating is on high. Peter has rummaged around in the backseat and come up with a dusty old blanket, which is now draped over Neal, not doing a whole lot in terms of warming him up. But it does make him feel  _ nice. _ Cared for, even. He pulls the blanket tighter around himself as an especially harsh shiver runs through him, and wonders vaguely where they’re going. 

He looks at Peter, hoping to convey his question without needing to speak. Luckily, Peter can read him, and he says, “we’re going home. We can deal with the watch in the morning, when you’re not freezing to death in my car.”

_ Home? _ Neal doesn’t want to go home. June’s out of town for the weekend and he’ll be all alone and still cold and miserable. 

Strangely enough, though, they don’t appear to be going home. In fact, Neal realizes, as Peter makes a turn, they’re going to the Burkes’. 

_ Home, _ he thinks, making a realization that he hardly dares to think might be true. Maybe Peter is just dropping by, maybe he’s taking an alternate route, or...he lets himself think it, just for a second: maybe Peter  _ does  _ mean home, his home, but home for Neal too. He nearly cries at the mere thought, and surely  _ would  _ cry, were it not for the fact that his tear ducts feel frozen shut.

“Home?” he brings himself to ask, as Peter pulls to a stop in front of the Burkes’ house. 

“Yeah,” Peter says, looking at him questioningly. “El’s making soup tonight, and there’s a game on. We can have a fire, warm you up. Come on,” he finishes, stepping out of the car and gesturing for Neal to follow.

Despite everything, Neal feels a sudden surge of warmth envelop him. Peter  _ had  _ meant home. He gets out of the car, this time barely fumbling with the door handle at all. 

Not one minute later, El is fussing over him a great deal more than he thinks is necessary. Not that he doesn’t appreciate it, because he does. But El is absolutely  _ relentless, _ bustling him into a pair of faded old pajamas that are slightly too big on him, grabbing blankets from all over the house and piling them onto the couch for him to pick from, pushing a mug of steaming hot tea into his hands, and generally fretting over him, while Peter tells her the story of their evening and she shakes her head fondly.

“Are you sure you’re feeling warmed up now?” she asks, a few minutes later, as the three of them settle around the dining room table with delicious-smelling bowls of soup. 

Neal gives her a smile and holds up his hands, no longer shaking. He  _ is  _ still a little cold, particularly in his fingers and toes and on top of his head where his still-damp hair is beginning to dry, but mostly, he’s warm, and as dry as he can be, and very, very happy. 

He’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> woohoo whumptober completionist two years running babey!! i'm so happy!!! anyways happy halloween to everyone, hope you have such a good and spooky night! also i am going to submit my first college apps tonight and hoo boy....Nervous. but i hope they will go okay!! and! i turn 18 tomorrow!! which is so wild lol. anyway a lot to be happy and excited about so yeah! passing on these good good vibes to you! i hope you've enjoyed whichever of my whumptober fics you happened to read and a huge thanks to anyone who's read this!!! 💙💙💙💙💙


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